Wrench.



A. C. BARRETT.

WRENCH. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, I918.

Patented Mar. 4,1919.

IN VEN TOR.

MAW/C A TTORNEY UNTTEfi dTATES FATENT @FFTQE.

ARTHUR C. BARRETT, OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA.

Application filed March 11, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR C. BARRETT, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Stockton, in the county of San J oaquin, State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWrenches; and I do declare the following to be a clear. full, and exactdescription of the same. reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which forma part of this application. v

This invention relates to improvements in wrenches, particularly to thattype commonly known as a monkey wrench. The object of the invention isto obviate the use of the now common advancing worms or screws used todrive the movable jaw of the wrench in one direction or the other. It isa slow, tedious job to move the jaw with such worm or screw and when thewrench is being used on nuts which are in more or less inaccessibleplaces, it is very hard. to adjust the jaws accurately withoutcontinually placing the wrench into and out of engagement with the nutfor a number of times.

By the use of my improved invention, the movable jaw may be quickly andeasily moved in either direction with a simple pressure of the thumb,and, when fixed against the nut, it can be instantly locked in thatposition and the wrench then operated at will. Thus, when a nut is in aninaccessible place, the fixed jaw may be fixed against one side thereofand the movable jaw immediately pressed into engagement with theopposite side of the nut. This will require but one positioning of thewrench.

The advantages of this will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

The use of my improved wrench also has many other advantages which willbe recognized by those who are familiar with the use of the now commonmonkey wrench.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet one which will be exceedingly efi'ective for the purposesfor which it is designed.

These objects, I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of the parts as will fully appear by a perusal of thefollowing specificatlon and claim.

On the drawings, similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

WRENCH.

Patented Mar. 1,1919.

Serial No. 221,683.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete wrench.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, in section, of the adjustment mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section through the shank of the wrench taken on aline 4& of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the numeral 1 designates the shank, on the end of which is thefixed cross-head or jaw 2. Each side of the shank 1 is provided with alongitudinal groove 3 which acts as a guide for a flanged retainer andbrace 4t mounted on the slidable jaw 5. This jaw 5 is also provided witha retaining strap 6 which encircles the shank 1.

The inner edge of the shank 1 is provided with a longitudinal groove 7provided for a portion of its length with bottom ratchets 8.

The slidable jaw 5 is provided with a projecting bracket 9 which isbifurcated, as at 9, to pivotally receive a finger member 10 on aratchet dog 11 adapted to engage the ratchet teeth 8. This finger memberprojects underneath the bracket 9 and is provided at one point with a-pi'n 12 which projects through said bracket and which is provided witha thumb button 18. A spring 14c normally engages the under side of thefinger member 10 to hold the dog 11 in engagement with such ratchetteeth 8. When in this position, the movable jaw 5 is held againstmovement. When it is desired, however, to move such jaw one way or theother to fit different sized nuts, the shank 1 is held in the hands ofthe operator and the thumb button 13 pressed downwardly. This movcs thefinger member 10 against the spring ll and releases the dog 11 from theratchets 8. The aw 5 may then be freely slipped along in eitherdirection. When the desired position thereof is reached, the thumbbutton 13 is released and the spring 14 presses the dog 11 intoengagement with one of the ratchets 8, whereupon the wrench may be usedto perform its function.

The dog 11 engages the ratchets 8 at such an angle that the pressureagainst the same drives such dog directly against the bottom of theratchets. Thus, there is no tendency to .wear out the ratchets, butinstead thereof, they will tend to' be made deeper. Any sheering strainagainst the pin 10*, by means of which the finger member 10 is pivotedratchets will not come on the pin 10 but will come directly against thebracket 9 and dog 11 and the shankl by reason of theengagement of thedog 11 with the ratchets 8'.

From the foregoing description it .will readily be seen that I haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfils the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruct-ion of the device, still in practice, such deviations fromsuch detail may be resorted to as dovnot form a departure from thespirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I; claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A wrench comprising a shank, a fixedvjaw and a slidable jaw, said shankbeing pro vided with a longitudinal groove on each side, a guide memberon the slidable jaw slidable in the grooves, theshank being furtherprovided with a longitudinal slot inits inner. edge, ratchets formed inthe bottom of the slot, a downwardly extending bracket on the slidablejaw, a spring pressed finger member pivotedgat. one,end in the bracketand positioned between the bracket and the slot and having a projectinglug impinging gaging thefinger member to lift the dog from the ratchets,the dog being provided with recesses on each side frictionally engagingwith the end, of the finger member whereby the compressive strain on theslidable jaw and the finger member and dog thereof is distributed evenlythroughout and is not concentrated at the pivotal point of the dog: andfinger members.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR G. BARRETT.

WVitnesses VERADINE WVARNER, BERNARD PRIVAT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained-for five cents each; by addressingthe 0ommissi0ner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

